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Brittney Griner makes surprise appearance at NAACP Image Awards

Russia released WNBA star from penal colony late last year

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Brittney Griner, right, and her wife, Cherelle Griner, at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, Calif., on Feb. 25, 2023. (Screenshot from CBS 2/YouTube)

A standing ovation greeted the WNBAā€™s Brittney Griner over the weekend when the basketball star and her wife, Cherelle, stunned the audience by walking out onto the stage at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, Calif. 

As Deadline reported, Queen Latifah was speaking about the resilience of Black people Saturday night, when she said, ā€œWe stay overcoming because thatā€™s what we do!ā€ Then, she introduced the Griners: ā€œAs we gather here tonight, In the spirit of overcoming adversity, I want to take this moment to recognize someone who has done just that.ā€

The crowd roared as they appeared on stage with broad smiles, holding hands. Brittney wore an elegant black tuxedo and unbuttoned button-down white shirt, with Cherelle decked out in a regal purple pantsuit. 

ā€œIt feels so good to be here,ā€ said Griner, ā€œespecially with my beautiful, amazing wife and with all of yā€™all here today.ā€

ā€œThank you for that beautiful applause,ā€ Cherelle Griner said. ā€œWe are just truly so thankful to all the people, many of whom are Black women and Black-led organizations who fought so hard to bring BG home tonight.ā€ 

The Phoenix Mercury player, who just re-signed with the team this month, regained her freedom in December 2022 in a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. 

The 32-year-old missed the entire 2022 season following her arrest in Moscow one year ago. Russian authorities said she broke their law by packing vape canisters with cabbabis oil in her luggage. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for drug smuggling, and that sentence was upheld upon appeal in October

Griner was finally exchanged in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. He had served 10 years of a 25-year-sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to a terrorist group. Russia balked at the Biden administrationā€™s request to secure the release of businessman and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is still serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia for spying.

“Let’s keep fighting to bring home every American still detained overseas,” Griner told the audience at the award ceremony. 

As NPR reported, almost three dozen Americans are wrongfully detained by foreign governments each year, a rate nearly seven times greater than the average compared to just ten years ago, according to a study by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. That group advocates for the release of Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained.

According to the foundation, right now there are at least 60 Americans who are currently being held hostage or wrongfully detained in foreign countries. Iran, China, Venezuela, Syria and Russia are holding the vast majority of those Americans prisoner. 

Griner and the Phoenix Mercury open their 2023 season against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Crypto.com Arena on May 19. The teamā€™s first home game is May 21 when Phoenix hosts the Chicago Sky.

Surprises at 54th NAACP Image Awards:

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Cynthia Erivo to headline WorldPride Saturday concert

ā€˜An extraordinary moment of unity, celebration, and visibilityā€™

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Cynthia Erivo will headline the WorldPride 2025 Saturday night Street Festival and Concert. (Photo courtesy of WorldPride)

WorldPride DC 2025 announced today that ā€œWickedā€ star, LGBTQ icon, and award-winning performer Cynthia Erivo will headline the WorldPride 2025 Saturday night Street Festival and Concert on the Capitol Stage following the parade. 

A multi-week long series of events, WorldPride DC 2025 culminates in a free, inclusive, two-day event June 7-8, 2025. The event features a mix of local artists, DJs, and performers alongside big names in entertainment like Erivo. Taking place June 7-8 along Pennsylvania Avenue, the weekend WorldPride spectacular is to be a display of ā€œpride, music, and unity.ā€ 

Erivo delivers ā€œa powerhouse headlining performance against the iconic backdrop of the U.S. Capitol Building,ā€ according to organizers.

ā€œAs the culminating event for the parade, the Saturday night concert will be an extraordinary moment of unity, celebration, and visibility for our global LGBTQ+ community,ā€ said Ryan Bos, executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance, host of WorldPride 2025. ā€œCynthia Erivoā€™s powerful artistry and unwavering advocacy make her the perfect artist to headline this momentous event.ā€

An actress, producer, singer, songwriter, and advocate for the LGBTQ and Black communities, Erivo has been making even larger headlines after starring in the award-winning ā€œWickedā€ movie alongside Ariana Grande. Having recently embraced her LGBTQ identity, Erivo has been using this platform to promote representation. 

The free WorldPride 2025 Street Festival and Concert takes place in front of the U.S. Capitol building. The event is set to bring together visitors from across the U.S. and the world, featuring exhibitors, artisans, food and beverage gardens, and a diverse range of local, national, and big-named artists. 

WorldPride plans to announce the names of additional artists and performers in the coming days.

According to WorldPride organizers, the theme The Fabric of Freedom ā€œsymbolizes the unity and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. Following the 2024 presidential inauguration, it serves as a reminder of the ongoing fight for equality and the strength found in diversity.ā€

Outside of the official WorldPride events, other associated concerts will be taking place that weekend, including the recently announced Project Glow-organized World Pride Music Festival featuring Jennifer Lopez and Troye Sivan, which garnered some controversy by including the artist Grimes, a former partner of Elon Musk.

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Colman Domingo is riding high ahead of the Oscars

Actor is star, executive producer of ‘Sing Sing’

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Colman Domingo speaks at the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival after he received its Montecito Award. (Photo courtesy of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival)

Colman Domingo is riding on a career high, with back-to-back Best Actor Academy Award nominationsā€“last year, playing Bayard Rustin, the gay advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and this season, starring and executive producing Greg Kwedarā€™s mesmerizing film, ā€œSing Sing.ā€

One thing is clear watching any of Domingoā€™s films and television seriesā€“among them being ā€œSelma,ā€ ā€œThe Color Purple,ā€ ā€œMa Raineyā€™s Black Bottom,ā€ and ā€œHBOā€™s ā€œEuphoriaā€ā€”he completely gives his heart and soul into every role he takes on. 

Itā€™s no wonder then, why the charismatic performer recently received the Montecito Award from Executive Director Roger Durling at the 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.Ā 

ā€œAs a devoted admirer of Colman Domingo for so long, what is enthralling to see is how his early work in theaterā€”the specificity, the dexterity, the research, the conviction and the intelligence that this performer displayed on the boards is now being finally utilized,ā€ said Durling. “His potential that always was there is now realized.ā€Ā 

In a lengthy chat about his career with Durling, Domingo addressed his perseverance throughout his illustrious television and film career, telling attendees, ā€œI just kept going and believed that the love I was seeking would also be seeking me. I just always believed that.ā€

The evening highlighted Domingoā€™s powerhouse performance as John ā€œDivine Gā€ Whitfield in ā€œSing Sing.ā€ In the film, which is based on a true story, an imprisoned manā€”wrongfully put in jail for a crime he didnā€™t commitā€”finds a renewed sense of purpose by acting in a theatre group, ā€œRehabilitation Through the Arts,ā€ also known as RTA, alongside other incarcerated men.

The riveting script had immense appeal to the veteran actor.

ā€œI started my career in educational theater,ā€ said Domingo. ā€œI would go to local San Francisco Bay Area high schools to perform while also teaching kids about important issues such as HIV, AIDS, or conflict resolution. We were the arts program, coming in, performing, and maybe doing a few classes. And influence the children with art, in much the same manner that RTA did in the New York prison system.ā€

He continued: ā€œSo I already understood itā€”the idea of an arts program coming into a maximum security prison is revolutionary. It goes completely against the system that got them there in the first place.ā€ 

Domingo saw ā€œSing Singā€ not as a prison story, but as a human story. 

ā€œIt is a triumphant story, of course and determination, of fighting against a system thatā€™s broken,ā€ he noted. ā€œRodessa Jones said, ā€˜But art just might be the parachute that saves us all.ā€™ That is certainly true of the men of RTA. We all have choices we makeā€”every dayā€”to try to be better, to go to our better angels. Thatā€™s what this film is about, ultimately.ā€

Domingoā€™s interest and passion for the film transcended signing onto the role; he and his husband RaĆŗl Domingoā€™s production company, Edith Productions, joined to executive produce. They were instrumental in helping assemble the cast and faithfully guide the storytelling.

He referred to the film as a ā€œquiet act of revolutionā€ because of its poignant depiction of tenderness and compassion between Black men.

ā€œItā€™s about putting myself on the line in every single way as an artist. If Iā€™m going to have an impact, if Iā€™m going to do this work that I think is meaningful and can really change lives … I think a film like ‘Sing Sing’ is really changing lives. Itā€™s actually doing work. So, I have to give everything.ā€

Being able to connect deeply with his characters has always been an important part of Domingoā€™s acting process. During the q and a, describing his performance in ā€œRustin.ā€ he noted how connected he felt portraying the role.

ā€œIt felt like we were in alignment. That Rustinā€™s journey and my journey were meeting at the exact moment, and I was the actor to help pull this black, queer, civil rights revolutionary out of the shadows of history, while I was being pulled into new history. I needed every year, every step, every misstep in my career, to enable me to play Bayard Rustin.ā€

The Santa Barbara recognition follows his win at New Yorkā€™s Gotham Awards, where Domingo took home the honor for Outstanding Lead Performance. 

He also received the Spotlight Award at the Palm Springs Film Festival. Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi acknowledged Domingoā€™s ā€œraw and captivatingā€ performance. ā€œWe are so thrilled to honor the remarkable talent of Colman Domingo at the Palm Springs International Film Awards for the second year in a row.ā€  

Domingo ongoingly keeps a busy scheduleā€“he can currently be seen in Netflixā€™s series “The Madness” created by Clement Virgo. He also recently wrapped production on ā€˜Michaelā€™ playing Joe Jackson, directed by Antoine Fuqua. Lionsgate will release the film Oct. 3, 2025. 

And thatā€™s not allā€“he will voice Norman Osborn in the upcoming Disney+ animated series ā€œYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,ā€ and is currently in production on NETFLIXā€™s ā€œThe Four Seasons,ā€ alongside Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. He will play Michael Jacksonā€™s dad in ā€œMichael.ā€

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Jane Fonda takes a stand at SAG Awards

Hollywood icon urged peers to resist once more

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Jane Fonda at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 2025. (Screen capture via Netflix)

If there was any clear takeaway to be had from last Sundayā€™s 31st Annual Screen Actorsā€™ Guild Awards, itā€™s that the trophies are very heavy.

After the eveningā€™s first winner ā€” Kieran Culkin, as Best Supporting Motion Picture Performance by a Male Actor for ā€œA Real Painā€ ā€” used most of his acceptance speech for an off-the-cuff comedic riff about the weight of the statuette he had just been handed, the topic became a theme, a seemingly impromptu running gag exemplifying the overall high spirits that marked the affair.

A palpable camaraderie among peers has always been a hallmark of the SAGs, and this year was not an exception ā€” despite the ongoing aftermath of LAā€™s recent devastating wildfires, which personally impacted many of the individuals that were present, the overall tone of the event was more celebratory than somber.

Yet there was also another elephant in the room. While there was clear hesitation to directly address the cloud cast over the famously (though not exclusively) liberal entertainment community by the advent of the new Trump regime, host Kristen Bell kept things light during her ā€œFrozenā€-inspired opening sequence and other scripted ā€œbitsā€ throughout, conspicuously avoiding overtly political material. Most of the presenters and winners, occasional remarks about the importance of empathy aside, seemed to be playing it safe.

At least, they did until it was time for Jane Fonda to take the stage. The legendary star, receiving SAGā€™s prestigious Life Achievement Award, delivered a lengthy and impassioned speech that began as she tied her professional career directly to the political activism for which she is perhaps equally famous. Then, the 88-year-old screen icon ā€” perhaps best known to the youngest generations among us for her long-running role opposite longtime friend (and ā€œ9 to 5ā€ co-star) Lily Tomlin in ā€œGrace and Frankieā€ ā€” segued into a fiery call for her industry peers to resist once more; citing the need to stay ā€œin communityā€ and crystalizing remarks by earlier speakers about empathy into an impassioned description of an actorā€™s ability to promote understanding of other peopleā€™s experience through their work, she stressed the importance of bridging divisions because ā€œa whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way,ā€ and encouraged welcoming those with political differences ā€œinto our tent, because we are going to need a really big tent to resist whatā€™s coming at us.ā€

Recalling that her career began in the wake of the 1950ā€™s ā€œRed Scare,ā€ when she observed first-hand the resistance with which many of Hollywoodā€™s ā€œbiggest namesā€ stood up against Sen. Joseph McCarthyā€™s congressional hearings during his infamous anti-Communist ā€œwitch hunt,ā€ she implored her fellow actors to do the same. ā€œThis is it, and itā€™s not a rehearsal,ā€ she said. ā€œThis is big-time serious, folks, so letā€™s be brave.ā€

The crowning moment of her speech, however, was her characteristically blunt and fiercely intelligent observation that ā€œempathy is not ā€˜weakā€™ or ā€˜wokeā€™ ā€” and by the way, ā€˜wokeā€™ just means you give a damn about other people.ā€

Despite her clearly focused messaging, Fonda never referenced Donald Trump by name ā€” but she did deliver a particularly cutting swipe when, in providing an example or the need for actors to understand and empathize with the ā€œtraumatized charactersā€ they play even when they ā€œhate the behaviorā€ they have to portray, she cited Sebastian Stanā€™s performance in ā€œThe Apprentice,ā€ in which the actor delivers a critically-lauded portrayal of the currently-sitting president in his younger years, during his mentorship with infamously amoral closeted homosexual Roy Cohn.

As for the winners in the yearā€™s competitive categories, there was a mix between the predictable and the unexpected. 

ā€œShōgun,ā€ FXā€™s acclaimed adaptation of the 1975 James Clavell historical epic novel about power struggles in 17th century feudal Japan, dominated SAGā€™s Television Drama categories much along the same lines as it did at last fallā€™s Primetime Emmy Awards, winning in both the Lead Actor categories (Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, Best Male and Female performance, respectively) as well as taking Best Ensemble Cast, SAGā€™s equivalent of the Best Drama Series award. The show, which has been renewed for a second and third season, also received the Best Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a TV Series.

Culkinā€™s aforementioned win as Supporting Male Actor in a Motion Picture was the latest in a long list of victories, cementing his likelihood of winning the same category in the upcoming Oscar race; likewise, Zoe SaldaƱaā€™s victory in the Supporting Female Actor category for the controversy-plagued ā€œEmilia PĆ©rezā€ makes her win at the Academy seem all but inevitable.

Jessica Gunning was named Best Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for the Netflix hit stalker drama ā€œBaby Reindeer,ā€ and Jean Smart racked up yet another win as Lead Female Actor in a Comedy Series for ā€œHacks.ā€

Somewhat less predictable was Demi Mooreā€™s win as Best Leading Film Performance by a Female Actor for ā€œThe Substance,ā€ which places the veteran screen star ā€” once considered a ā€œdark horseā€ in this yearā€™s awards race ā€” as a favorite to repeat her growing list of victories on Oscar night. Colin Farrellā€™s chameleonic turn as the title character in ā€œThe Penguinā€ earned the Irish performer the award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series,

Reasserting its growing acclaim by taking the prize for Best Ensemble in Motion Picture ā€“ the equivalent of Oscarā€™s Best Picture award ā€” was the UK-produced ā€œConclave,ā€ following its BAFTA win in the same category and making it a firm front-runner to clinch Academy honors as well.

A pair of refreshingly unexpected victories were claimed by Huluā€™s popular ā€œOnly Murders in the Building,ā€ whose fourth season picked up wins for both Ensemble in a Television Comedy and Lead Male TV Comedy Performance for co-star Martin Short; but perhaps the eveningā€™s biggest surprise was TimothĆ©e Chalametā€™s win as Best Lead Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture for playing Bob Dylan in the biopic ā€œA Complete Unknown,ā€ which sparked a rare moment when all of the young starā€™s competing nominees ā€” including widely-assumed favorites Adrien Brody and Colman Domingo (for ā€œThe Brutalistā€ and ā€œSing Sing,ā€ respectively) ā€” were seen to react with visible enthusiasm when his name was announced.

In its intriguing mix of the sure bets and long shots in the winnersā€™ circle, the SAG Awards seemed to suggest a new ā€œnormalā€ among Hollywoodā€™s elite players, emphasizing diversity and empathy in its choices over the ā€œbuzzā€ and prestige that typically drive such industry ceremonies. Ultimately, though, the results in the SAG competition feel less noteworthy than the inspiring spirit of resistance bestowed by Fondaā€™s use of her acceptance speech as a thrillingly defiant call-to-arms against the encroaching fascism of Donald Trumpā€™s return to power.

The complete list of winners is below.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: TimothĆ©e Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Demi Moore in ā€œThe Substanceā€

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Kieran Culkin in “A Real Painā€

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Zoe SaldaƱa in “Emilia PĆ©rez”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: ā€œConclaveā€

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Colin Farrell in ā€œThe Penguinā€ 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Jessica Gunning in “Baby Reindeer”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Hiroyuki Sanada in “Shōgun”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Anna Sawai in ā€œShōgunā€

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Martin Short in “Only Murders in the Building”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart in ā€œHacksā€

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: ā€œShōgunā€

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: ā€œOnly Murders In The Buildingā€

Life Achievement Award: Jane Fonda

STUNT ENSEMBLE HONORS

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: ā€œThe Fall Guyā€

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series: ā€œShōgunā€

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